


Signs Of Respect

by writerwisegirl



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders is a Sweetheart, Anxious Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Claustrophobia, Gen, Nonverbal Communication, Panic Attacks, Sign Language, Warning: Deceit Sanders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 14:41:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16477475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerwisegirl/pseuds/writerwisegirl
Summary: Virgil’s weird, distorted anxiety voice only came out when he had a strong influence over Thomas. A long time ago, before he was ever Virgil, he had decided that when it happened, it would be best not to talk. He learned ASL as a means of communication, and he should have known it would only be a matter of time until the other’s learned it too.





	Signs Of Respect

**Author's Note:**

> Hey I didn't write this one at 2am! I actually wrote this over a few weeks with a friend! It started out as an offhand comment I made during our ASL class and it turned into this. You should go check them out on Tumblr at https://five-hour-anxiety.tumblr.com/ they’re really good and have some amazing Sanders Sides fics over there.

The room was dark, as it always was, but it felt so much smaller than it was just minutes prior. Anxiety coughed, trying to catch his breath, but he couldn’t because  _ the walls were closing in and oh god he was going to die here _ . In the back of his mind he registered a whoosh, like someone had entered his room, but why would anyone be there?

The other sides didn’t know anything about this, there was no reason for them to show up. And besides, why would they even want to help? As far as they were concerned, he was just barely on this side of being a good guy. A “Light Side” as Roman put it. 

“Anxiety, get off the floor, it’s quite unbecoming.” Wait, he knew that voice. Was it a good thing, or was it bad? He knew the voice, he  _ did _ , but knowing whom it belonged to was a whole new issue. It had to be a “Dark Side”, none of the other three spoke with the same drawl or had malice dripping from every syllable.

“Anxiety, come on. If you don’t get it together this will leak over to Thomas and you know as well as I do that we can’t have that.” Oh. So that’s who it was. Maybe this could be good, at least he could communicate without using his scary voice, but he didn’t particularly like this guy. They certainly weren’t friends, not like the other three were. 

“Say something, you prick, I don’t have all day and I won’t let you ruin all my hard work.” Narcissism groaned, gripping Anxiety’s arm and yanking him roughly to his feet. “Say something!” He growled, shaking the other around, before sinking down and taking Anxiety with him.

**“Can’t!”** Anxiety groaned as they rose back up in Narcissism’s room. 

“Okay then, say something with your hands! It’s not that hard!” Narcissism scoffed, finally setting Anxiety down. “You really need to pull yourself together.”

Anxiety was trembling, as Narcissism’s room didn’t feel much larger than the one they had just left. Slowly he brought up a trembling hand, and made a few sharp gestures -- (Thomas is not okay) he signed.

“I don’t know what you’re saying, Anxiety, do try to be considerate of others when you talk.” As he spoke, Narcissism wiggled his fingers as he pulled his arm to the side, indicating that he wanted Anxiety to fingerspell.

Anxiety switched to spelling all the words out and repeated himself.

“And what exactly is wrong with Thomas?” Narcissism asked, sounding bored. He didn’t bother signing, not wanting to put out any more effort than was absolutely necessary.

(People, offended, video.) Anxiety spelled out, trusting that Narcissism would be able to fill in the gaps. 

“...What do you mean? Was it an online thing or someone told him this in private?” Narcissism’s voice was low, his hands curling into fists.

(Online), Anxiety signed. He was trembling again, the combined presence of an angry “Dark Side”, the walls closing in, and the fear of harming Thomas sending him spiraling once more.

“Great, well. Let’s get you in a presentable state and then I’ll go clean up Roman’s mess. Breathe, in and out. I don’t know what pattern you use, nor do I care to learn it now, but you need to breathe.”

Anxiety took a trembling breath, just barely able to breathe in for more a second. He tried again and was moderately more successful. It took a few minutes of forcing himself to breathe before he was able to remember his pattern and start using that. 4-7-8 he reminded himself. After that, he was able to calm down a bit more.

(Sorry) He signed to Narcissism, who simply sighed.

“Well, I’m off to clean up Roman’s mess, we can’t have Thomas looking like a fool now, can we? Do try and keep it together once I leave, Anxiety. I don’t want to work any harder than I have too.” He waved his hand dismissively, before sinking as he began to yell for Roman. He had never told Anxiety to leave his room, but the side could take a hint.

His room felt bigger than before but just as dark and almost even lonelier. He wanted to go find the others, but he couldn’t for two reasons. One, they almost certainly wouldn't want him there, and two, he still wasn’t sure if he could talk normally. And they would definitely ask questions if he refused to talk. He sighed before hauling himself off the floor, only to flop back down on his bed, pulling the covers up over his head.

 

***

 

“Anx-Virgil! Virgil, are you okay in there?” Patton called, knocking insistently on the anxious side’s door. He could hear movement from behind the thick, dark wood but it consisted only of hitched breaths and rustling clothes.

“C’mon, Virgil, we just want to help you!” Roman groaned, tapping his foot in a steady rhythm. “You know we aren’t going to hurt you, we went through a big touchy-feely group therapy session last week!”

Virgil could hear them calling him and he was almost tempted to open the door, but the idea of them finding out about this still scared him. Finally, after a few minutes of going back and forth with his thoughts, he waved a hand and the door unlocked, letting Patton, who had been leaning on it, tumble into the room. He righted himself quickly and looked around for Virgil, who was hiding in a corner.

Logan and Roman came in after him, taking slow steps as they looked around the room. They had only been in there once or twice, but even with their limited knowledge they could tell it was in disarray. Hoodies were thrown about the room, piles of papers had been scattered across the floor -- it was a good thing Patton hadn’t been paying as much attention, Roman thought to himself as he noted the number of spider webs in the room seemed to have doubled.

“Virgil, you can come over to us. We mean you no harm.” Logan said, his voice low and comforting. “Can you tell us what’s wrong, we would like to understand.”

Virgil shook his head, not wanting to startle them. They had only heard his scary voice once or twice before, and always seemed surprised by it. Given that they were in his room and already more susceptible to anxiety he really didn’t want to scare them. He started signing before he really even thought about it, just trying to tell them to get out of his room, that it was dangerous for them to be there.

The other stared at him for a few moments, unsure of what he was trying to do. He kept signing (get out, go away) repeatedly, but they didn’t seem to know what he was saying. Perhaps if he finger spelled it?

Breath hitching with silent sobs, he slowly spelled out (go away) and added (please) for good measure. They still didn’t get it.

“Virgil, are you trying to communicate via sign language?” Logan asked, crouching down to the anxious side’s eye level.

Virgil nodded quickly, glad that he had picked up on that much at least. (Go away, please) he spelled again, slower. He could see a bit of eyeshadow beneath Logan’s eyes and it was making him even more stressed. What if they got corrupted? He couldn’t take care of Thomas by himself, he needed them to do their jobs. He started to make a shoo-ing motion, trying to get them out. He also pointed at Logan’s eyes, hoping they would get the message.

“Virgil, I’m afraid we don’t know sign language.” Logan sighed, but his eyes suddenly hardened. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to leave you alone for this, though. Roman, could you?”

Roman nodded and approached Virgil. He held his hands out in front of him and stopped when he was within arm’s reach.

“Is it okay if I touch you?”

The question left Virgil numb -- no one had ever asked before. Narcissism had always just taken initiative and yanked him around, why would Roman bother to ask? Still, he nodded, and Roman gently scooped him up into his arms and the four left Virgil’s room without another word.

Virgil looked around as they arrived in the living room. At least the others were out of his room. The eyeshadow had disappeared from beneath their eyes so that was good. It allowed him to calm down a little bit. Roman set him down on the couch and immediately missed being held. That was another thing he hated about this. He always wanted to be touched. 

Patton, bless his soul, seemed to know what he wanted. He sat down and raised his hands in a tentative manner, asking if Virgil wanted a hug. Virgil nodded, and two arms quickly found themselves wrapped around his midsection, but left his arms clear and free.

(I’m sorry, please don’t go) He signed, knowing that they couldn’t understand but needing to say it anyway.

“Virgil, may I propose communicating via yes or no questions? You may shake or nod your head to answer?” Logan asked, sitting himself down on Virgil’s other side.

Virgil nodded again, not sure what they would want to ask him but willing to try. The hug was helping him calm down a little but his breathing was still erratic and he couldn’t control the tears leaking from his eyes. He was still a little scared that they would be upset about this, after all, it could very well start affecting Thomas at any moment. 

“Well, let’s start with this one, dark and stormy knight -- what on Earth happened to you?” Roman asked, hands flying up dramatically as he spoke.

“That is not a yes or no question, Roman. Besides, I believe we may best serve Virgil by avoiding the  _ why  _ questions, at least for now. Virgil? Would you like a glass of water?”

Virgil nodded as one of his fists made a knocking motion. He curled into Patton further, and when the fatherly side squeezed him in return, tears sprang to his eyes as he realized that the warmth he provided wasn’t going to leave unless he wanted it to.

Logan stood up and made his way to the kitchen, where he poured a glass of water for Virgil. He then hurried back out and offered it to him. Virgil uncurled himself slightly and took it in one hand, the other tapping his chin to say thank you. He took a drink and then gave it back to Logan, finding that his breathing had calmed some. 

“Virgil, was that- was that an anxiety attack?” Patton whispered, his voice low so as not to spook the side in his arms any further. Virgil nodded, turning to hide his face as a blush enveloped it. “I didn’t know-”

“You get attacks? I thought you just gave them!” Roman cried, throwing an arm out and up to his head. “Is this something that happens often, and I just haven’t noticed?”

“I don’t think he can answer those questions right now, Roman, let’s give him some time to calm down. Anxiety attacks can often leave an individual nonverbal, that may be why he is trying to communicate with us using sign language.” Logan said.

Virgil kept his head hidden in Patton’s chest, really not wanting to have to deal with the fall out of this. Now that they knew, he was sure they would have a lot of questions, including how he learned sign language, and frankly, he didn’t want to think about Narcissism right now. He was enjoying being held and now that he was slightly calmer he was almost starting to fall asleep.

**“It’s n** ot that I can’t talk,” he mumbled, “It’s just best if I don’t.”

He fell asleep before he could explain what the meant, and by the time he had woken up the other three were asleep as well. He carefully extracted himself from the pile and padded up to his room. The others asked him about the attack at breakfast the following day, and he did his best to explain, but if he had left out the parts about Narcissism, well. What they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.

 

***

 

The others were all acting weird around him, like they were afraid they would upset him, and it was getting really annoying. 

“You know, I’m not going to break, you guys.” He finally said one day, about a week after the incident, as he had taken to calling it in his head. The other sides all looked up,  seemingly surprised. 

“Yes, it would be highly unlikely that you would break.” Said Logan. “Your bone structure is fine, and as far as I am aware you are not sick.” He sounded rather confused. 

“That’s not what I meant Logan,” Virgil said with a sigh. “I meant that you guys don't have to keep treating me with kid gloves. I’m fine.”

“I’m- we’re not treating you with kid gloves!” Patton cried rounding the corner and coming into the kitchen. “We’re just trying to sur-”

“Patton. Enough. Do you not know the meaning of the word?” Logan leveled a sharp glare at the moral side, making a slicing motion across his throat as he spoke. “I do believe Roman wanted to see you if you would be so kind as to pay him a visit?”

“Oh! It must be time for my sig-”

“Patton. Roman’s room. Go.” Logan ground out, pointing towards the stairs. Patton saluted and turned to leave before he stopped and ran back over to Virgil. He gave him quick hug and made a motion with his hand before he left for good.

(I love you) He had said and caused curiosity to stir in the anxious sides’ mind. 

Just what were those three up to? Vigil turned to Logan, raising an eyebrow. 

“What just happened?” He asked.

“Nothing,” Logan said, to quickly. Virgil raised his other eyebrow at him. 

“Really? Because it looked like Patton just signed at me.” He said. 

“Oh?” Logan said, “Well, you must have made a mistake.” He insisted, before turning and running out of the room. Well, that was odd. Something was definitely up.

 

***

 

Virgil supposed he should consider himself lucky that it had been a few months since his last, bad anxiety attack. This one was overdue, really, he should have expected it. He couldn’t even remember what set him off this time, just that he was busy trying to count his breathing when his voice got…  _ wrong _ . He had just managed to slip past the other three and duck into his room, hoping that they wouldn’t notice or follow him in.

“Virgil?”

Well, so much for optimism. Virgil sighed because of course, they had noticed. They had actually gotten really good at it, and had helped him through a couple smaller attacks, but now he wouldn’t be able to talk to them and that very well might make it worse because what if they got upset that he couldn’t talk to them, and oh, look at that, it was making it worse anyway. He could hear the others still trying to talk to him but at this point, he was stuck in his head and couldn’t do anything about it. Besides, they shouldn’t come into his room anyway. Maybe they would just leave him alone.

_ Bang! _ Virgil’s door was thrown open, and the light from the hallway illuminated what he guessed was Roman with his foot in the air. Logan was behind him, crouching with his hands in his hair as if he couldn’t believe what had just happened. Patton pushed through them, however, and made a beeline for Virgil.

“Your sword is made of imagination, Roman! When I said to get the door open, I meant morph it into a key or something! Not bust down the door like a brute!” Logan cried, gesturing to the cracks now running throughout the ruined door.

“Heat of the moment?” Roman suggested sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. Logan rolled his eyes and pushed Roman into the room, trying but failing to shut the ruined door behind them.

Patton crouched down in front of Virgil, careful not to startle him. (Do you want a hug?) He signed.

Virgil stared at him for a minute before signing yes. Patton pulled him into his arms, smiling a bit as Virgil tucked his head under Patton’s chin. After a minute though, Vigil realized what was happening and pulled back. (Get out!) he signed frantically. (Dangerous!) His breathing got even more erratic at the idea that he might be hurting his…..yes, his friends. He needed them to get out.

(Please, go before you get hurt) He signed, pointing at the door. Patton shook his head and pulled Virgil closer.

(You’re hurt right now if we leave you’re coming with us.)

Tears sprang to Virgil’s eyes, but now wasn’t the time to question how Patton knew sign language. He nodded and tried to stand up, but his legs were like jelly.

“Deja Vu,” Roman giggled, before asking if he could carry Virgil like before.

At Virgil’s nod, Roman scooped him up and quickly sank out, appearing back in the living room. He set him down on the couch but didn’t let go of him. By now they all knew Virgil liked to cuddle, especially when he was upset. Virgil curled around him but kept his face outwards, so that Patton could sign to him. He was still confused but he didn’t have the energy do anything try to breathe right now. 

It was to his great surprise that it wasn’t Patton who asked him if he could try to count with them, but Logan. 

(Can you count with us, or would you rather focus on breathing without our help?) He signed, kneeling in front of Virgil. Virgil stared again, that seemed to be his default setting at this point, before signing back.

(Can you count out loud?) 

(Of course), Logan signed, before clearing his throat. “One, two, three, four…”

Virgil tried to follow along, and to his credit, he made it pretty far before another thought sent him spiraling again -- did they learn sign language out of pity? What if they were just doing this to keep it from getting to Thomas like Narcissism had? He liked to think they were friends but he didn’t really know. For all he knew they could just be putting up with him for Thomas’ sake. After all, they had all realized that Thomas needed him, but that didn’t mean that anyone had to like him.

His breathing sped up again and he tried to make himself move away from Roman but it felt so good to be held and he really didn’t want to. He whimpered slightly, and curled into a tighter ball, tucking his face away as he started to cry again.

“Virgil, what’s wrong? How can we help you?” Roman asked, his hold on Virgil tightening subconsciously. “Has anyone checked with Thomas recently? Is something outside of the mind upsetting him?”

At the mention of Thomas’ name Virgil was filled with a sudden burst of energy, one which he used to try and push Roman away.

**“I’m- I don’t want-”** He tried, the sound of his voice making him wince.

(I don’t want to hurt him, I promise!) Patton looked at him, confused.

(We know that buddy.) He said (Why, is something going on?) When Virgil didn’t answer Patton turned to Roman. “Go check on Thomas, please?” He asked. Virgil had curled back up as soon the attention was off him, hoping that if he didn’t bother the others too much they would maybe keep being nice to him. 

(I’m sorry) he signed again, small and unsure. (I’m sorry).

“You don’t have to be, kiddo, you have nothing to apologize for,” Patton whispered, trying to take Roman’s spot on the couch. Virgil wouldn’t let him, though, kicking his feet up and taking up space.

(I didn’t mean to hurt him I’m sorry) Virgil signed, before tucking both hands away and into his hoodie.

(Hurt who?) Patton signed, alarm taking over his face. (Are you hurt? Do-)

“Virgil!” Two voices called, one of them clearly Roman’s and the other… the other someone different. Someone safe.

“Virgil, are you okay?” Thomas asked, approaching quietly. “Roman said you were spiralling, but I couldn’t even tell and- I just- you aren’t leaving us again are you?”

Virgil quickly shook his head, pulling his hands back out. (Didn’t want you to know. Didn’t want to hurt you. I’m sorry. Please don't leave me alone.) He begged, latching onto Thomas. He thought maybe Thomas was a little more likely to not get upset with him, after all, he was a part of him. 

Thomas looked over Virgil's head at the others. “Is he okay?” He asked “Was that sign language? Why is Virgil having an anxiety attack but I’m not?” He was clearly very confused. 

“We were hoping you could answer that, Thomas. Yes, that is sign language, yes we all know it, yes we can teach you too.” Logan sighed, taking his glasses off and pinching his nose.

“I didn’t ask-”

“You were going to. Thomas, you said you didn’t know Virgil was having an attack? I thought you felt everything.”

“N-no, I haven’t had a notable anxiety attack in a few months,” Thomas whispered, gently pushing Virgil’s legs off the couch and pulling him into a hug. “What on Earth is happening to you, Virgil?”

“It appears he has found a way to block his attacks from you, Thomas, as he’s had a few notable ones the past few months. But how?”

Thomas shrugged. “But we can figure that out later. Right now I want to focus on Virgil.” He glanced down at his lap to see Virgil sobbing and hyperventilating. He was still clinging to Thomas as tightly as he could, but his grip was starting to weaken as Virgil worked himself to the edge of unconsciousness. 

“Hey hey hey, you need to breathe Virge. You’re going to be okay but you need to breathe.” Thomas told him. Virgil, meanwhile, had small spots of black appearing in his vision and was starting to lose feeling in his hands -- but he fought through the pins and needles just long enough to sign.

(Sorry) Virgil signed before going limp in Thomas’ lap. Patton moved forward to shake him awake, but Thomas just shushed him and pulled him closer.

“He’s exhausted, we should leave him be for right now. While we wait, does anyone want to tell me how he got to this point?”

The others sighed and sat down around Thomas. 

“I’m not really sure,” Roman admitted. “We just found him in his room. He wasn’t quite this bad, but he was already panicking when we got there. In fact, he was calming down quite a bit, but then something must have happened because he got even worse than he was when we found him.” 

Thomas frowned, trying to think if there was anything that he remembered that could have caused this. There was the phone call from Joan, about them being sick, and the issue of having to put off the video schedule again but… but that wouldn’t be enough to do  _ this _ .

“Well, maybe it’s not as important about why he got set off the first time -- you said he got worse, Roman? Can anyone think of  _ why? _ ”

“I have given it some thought, but I am not sure how factual my guess may be. Virgil knew sign language way before we did, so he must have had someone who talked him through attacks before we did. But who?” Logan pinched the bridge of his nose and placed his glasses atop his head, “The only ones he associated with before he came to stay with us were the… what did you call them Roman? The ‘Dark Sides’?” 

Roman nodded, “But I can’t really see any of them helping him out of the goodness of their hearts. So they must have had another agenda. Maybe Virgil thought we did too?” He suggested. 

Patton gasped. “My son thought we didn’t want to help him?” He cried, leaning forward to grab Virgil’s hand, despite the fact that he was asleep. His other hand began to card through the soft purple hair, knowing that the action was found to be soothing by every Side, not just Virgil.

**“I’m- I** ’m okay, Patton” He mumbled, blinking his eyes open slowly. “I’m okay, don’t worry about me.”

“I really do think we need to fix your definition of okay, Virgil.” Patton sighed, pulling Virgil off of Thomas’ lap and onto his. “I’m sorry that you thought-”

“Patton, allow him a moment to wake up. We can try and understand then, okay? Roman, go get a glass of water; chances are that Virgil is dehydrated.” Logan placed his glasses back on his face and straightened his tie. “Thomas, you shouldn’t stay here too much longer, it is not safe for you.”

“I can stay until we get this figured out, Logan, it’s important to me that Virgil knows we love him.”

During this exchange, Virgil had found himself slowly remembering everything that had happened. “You-you guys learned sign language?” He asked quietly.

Patton nodded. “Of course we did. We wanted to help you.” He told Virgil, still playing with his hair.

“Right,” Virgil murmured. “Help.” He sounded skeptical and slightly uncomfortable with the idea. Thomas was the first to catch on to this. 

“They really do want to help you, Virgil,” He said, “And not for whatever reason you're thinking of -- just because they care about you.” 

Virgil snorted, clearly not convinced. “Whatever you say, Thomas.” He murmured. 

“Virgil, if they only did this to help themselves, like you believe, then why would we all still be here? You haven’t been letting these attacks get to me, so you’re not obstructing them from doing their jobs. If they only did this to make sure nothing went wrong with  _ me _ , they’d have all left after Roman saw I was doing a-okay.” Thomas said, reaching over to take the anxious Side’s hand. “We really do care about you, and we’re gonna sit here until you begin to accept that.”

“You- you really didn’t feel anything? I… I tried to speak and my voice wasn’t  _ mine _ and that means- that means you can feel it when that happens.” Virgil asked, trying to move the conversation away from him. “Are  _ you _ okay Thomas? Really and truly?”

“Really and truly,” Thomas promised. “I didn’t feel a thing. Speaking of that, how did you do that?” He asked. “I thought I could always feel it when something was wrong.”

Virgil shrugged. “I figured it out a long time ago. If I don’t talk it doesn't always get to you. Like, when we were in Patton’s room. You didn’t realize anything was wrong ‘til I said something.” He explained. “It’s been pretty useful, especially before I came here.” He said, not realizing what he had admitted until he felt Patton’s arms tighten around him. 

“What do you mean before you came here, kiddo?” He asked, looking down at the Side on his lap. Logan knelt down to Virgil’s level, Roman following suit.

“Did you learn sign language with one of the others?” Roman asked, his voice low.

“I- yes. I did.” Virgil kept his response short, knowing that if he said too much they would be forced into another awkward conversation he still wasn’t ready to have. “But Nar... _ that Side  _ only learned how to spell and not actually hold conversations. You guys are already so… so much better with that, I can’t even begin to tell you what that means to me.”

“Which Side, Virgil? Is this like that Deceit thing? You can’t tell me, can you?” Thomas groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. “Why is nothing ever easy with you people?”

Logan sighed. “We cannot tell you because you do not want to know Thomas. That is not necessarily a bad thing, it just means that you do not want the…. less savory sides of yourself to have too much power, that is all.” He explained. “After all, you created all this.” 

“Wow, please don’t… my brain hurts trying to even process that,” Thomas groaned, “But okay. I probably don’t want to know anyway.”

“That is for the best, yes. Virgil, I want you to know that I, from the bottom of my heart, learned sign language only so that I may be better equipped to help you in your hour, or well  _ hours _ , of need. We all did.” Roman swept his hands out as he spoke, only to bring them back into encompass Virgil in a hug. “We love you, so much.”

“I- yeah. Well. I know that now and I- it’s an understood thing.” Virgil mumbled, his face going red. 

Patton smiled at him. “We know. But really Virgil, we just want to help.”

Virgil sighed and nodded. “Thanks, guys. It means a lot to me,” He looked down, clearly still embarrassed, “It’ll take some getting used to, but I really do think I’m starting to understand.”

“I am very glad to hear that, Virgil, and should you start to question yourself and where you stand with us again we will be right here to remind you,” Logan said, pushing himself off the floor. He offered a hand to Virgil and tugged him into a hug when Virgil grasped it.

Thomas cooed at the sight, before joining in himself. Patton jumped up and wrapped his arms around the three as well, giggling as he did. Logan looked up and gestured with his head towards Roman, whose face was being split into a wide grin.

He charged forward and wrapped his arms around the four, causing Thomas to complain as his arms stretched out. He then lifted the group off the floor, surprised shouts turning into laughter.

In the middle was Virgil, giggling along and finally understanding what it meant to belong.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this, Ali and I spent like three weeks writing it (granted we only worked on it once a week but still) and its by far my longest fic yet. Comment ideas for what we should write next!


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